Re: Iris prices have gone down!
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: Iris prices have gone down!
- From: C*@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 21:16:51 -0600 (MDT)
Bill Shear said:
Actually, if we make some basic assumptions about purchasing power, $25
would have been an astronomical price for an iris rhizome in 1932! For
example, in 1944, my dad paid $3200 for a 3-bedroom house and lot. Today
in the same community, a similar house sells for about $85,000. That's
about 27 times more. So if you wanted to keep purchasing power parity with
the 1932 introductions, you'd have to sell today's new iris for $675!
I checked some old Schreiners catalogs from the 1950s. New introductions
were indeed still $25-30, but we can perhaps assume a 10-fold decrease in
purchasing power (a guess based on my starting salary in 1965 and what new
assistant professors get now), they'd have to be priced at $250-300 now.
So what has happened is not that prices have not been affected, but that
they have gone down at an incredible rate!
Bill, you got my point exactly. What is even more astonishing to me is that
the catalog claims $25 was a big drop from the $50 per rhizome for new intros
in the 1920's! Of course, there were many varieties selling for $0.50 as
well.
More fun but useless facts.
Chuck B.
Lafayette, IN Zone 5
where we're hoping and praying to have enough iris in bloom by Sat. May 24
for our iris show in Indianapolis.
